Mississippi teacher earns 2021 Benz Scholarship

State’s 2016 adviser of the year oversees multiple media at Tupelo High School

Shari Chumley, the journalism adviser at Tupelo High School in Tupelo, Mississippi, and an admitted “professional development junkie,” has been named the recipient of the 2021 Lester G. Benz Memorial Scholarship. The Benz carries with it a $500 prize that will be applied to the cost of professional development in journalism.

Chumley, a JEA Certified Journalism Educator, was named the Tupelo High School Teacher of the Year for 2020-2021, a CREATE Foundation Teacher of Distinction in 2019, and the Mississippi Yearbook Adviser of the Year in 2016. Her students have won several state awards for their work in the school newspaper, the news website, the yearbook, the literary magazine and the student podcast.

In addition to her work at THS, Chumley has been an active member on the board of directors of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, serving as contest coordinator since 2017.

“She has shepherded us through significant upgrades and contest realignments during her tenure, bringing invaluable institutional memory and stability to that area of our organization,” wrote R.J. Morgan, MSPA’s executive director. “I would dare say no other educator in the state possesses a deeper understanding of scholastic competitions and their critical role in incentivizing student performance than Shari.”

Though still undecided on how she’ll use the $500 grant, Chumley knows that she’ll put it to good use.

“I have found that the more I attend these workshops and classes, the more energized I am to get my students and future journalists involved and excited about scholastic journalism,” she wrote in her application. “My hope and goal is to help my students create publications of which they, our school and community are proud, and maybe even win an award or two in the process.”